South African property tycoon Des de Beer acquires more Lighthouse shares

South African property tycoon Des de Beer has added another 44.8 million rand ($2.7 million) of shares in Lighthouse Properties Plc, the Johannesburg-listed owner of large shopping malls in Western Europe, extending a run of purchases that has lasted since June.

Delsa Investments Pty Ltd., a company held by a family trust of which de Beer is a beneficiary, bought 5.5 million Lighthouse shares on the open market on Oct. 12 at 8.15 rand each, according to a filing with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange the next day. De Beer, a non-executive director of Lighthouse, holds the shares as an indirect beneficial interest through the Grove Trust, which owns Delsa.

The trade is the largest in a series. Delsa bought 3.3 million shares for about 26.5 million rand ($1.6 million) on Sept. 3 at an average price of 8.04 rand, and made smaller purchases in June, August and September. Exchange filings show it has bought at least 9.6 million Lighthouse shares since early June for more than 77 million rand ($4.6 million).

Second-largest shareholder

The purchases add to what was already a large position. De Beer's interests held about 340 million Lighthouse shares, or roughly 16% of the company, according to shareholder data compiled by MarketScreener, making him its second-largest investor after Resilient REIT Ltd., which owns about 27%. At the price Delsa paid on Monday, a holding of that size is worth about 2.8 billion rand ($166 million).

Lighthouse, which is registered in Malta and has about 2.1 billion shares in issue, was valued at roughly 17.2 billion rand ($1 billion) at that price. It changed its name from Lighthouse Capital Ltd. in 2021 and has focused on large regional shopping centers in Western Europe, particularly in Spain, where it bought Alcalá Magna near Madrid and Espacio Mediterráneo in Cartagena in 2025.

Those acquisitions have lifted payouts. In results published in August, Lighthouse raised its interim distribution 9.7% to 1.4401 euro cents a share for the six months through June, as revenue rose to 77 million euros. It increased its full-year distribution forecast to about 3 euro cents a share, which would be 8.7% higher than in 2025.

A property career

De Beer is one of the best-known figures in South African real estate. He led Resilient, a Johannesburg-listed real estate investment trust that owns shopping malls across South Africa, for years as its managing director and remains on its board as a non-executive director. Delsa also holds about 8.8% of Resilient, according to Profile's Stock Exchange Handbook, which lists shareholdings as of April 16.

He has also served on the boards of NEPI Rockcastle, a major owner of shopping malls in Central and Eastern Europe, which Resilient helped establish, and of British mall owner Hammerson Plc.

Resilient itself remains tied to Lighthouse. Besides being its biggest shareholder, it is Lighthouse's partner in Retail Property Investments SAS, a mall-owning venture in which Lighthouse holds 60%.